Should parents be required to control their kids on airplanes?

Question

This story happened in July. It's about a mother and her 19 month old son getting kicked off of a plane. The reason: the child kept screaming "bye bye plane" repeatedly. Now the mother is considering legal action because she was asked to leave the flight.

Personally I think the parents should be responsible for controlling their kids. It's really inconsiderate to others if you let your kid scream and throw tantrums. The mother in the video said she didn't have food, diapers, etc. but all of those things can be bought in the airport. Watch the video here:
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1116707249&fr=yfp-t-501

What are your thoughts?

People who agree with the flight attendant aren't blaming the kid, they are blaming the parent for not giving the kid a bottle or anything that would prevent an inconsiderate disruption on the plane.

Yes this kid was saying the same thing over and over for a long period of time, during which the mother made no effort to quiet the kid at all.

Answer 1

Wasnt it like 15 minutes of this kid saying the same thing? I've flown many times with my children when they were young and never had any problems. The mother first of all should have shushed the kid. What kind of a mother doesnt bring things to occupy the child especially on a flight?!?

Answer 2

Of course I believe parents need to control their children on an airplane!

But in this case...

Was this child throwing a tantrum? No.
Was he out of his seat running the aisle? No.
Was he screaming at the top of his lungs? No.
Was he repeatedly kicking the seat? No

He was speaking at a normal volume level. He was a just a toddler who was excited to go "bye-bye" on a "plane."

If you read the multiple news articles covering this event, you will see that the other passengers on the plane weren't being bothered in the slightest. They were actually defending the toddler/mother and opposing the flight attendants opinion that he was causing a disruption.

The flight attendant had NO right to suggest medication to the mother. She is not a medical professional and forcing medication on a child (or an adult) that way could have led to an overdose or possible allergic reaction. Then the flight attendant REALLY would have been in hot water!

To me, this sounds like a nut-job of a flight attendant.

Answer 3

I think that she was in control of her kid on the plane. To have a 19 month old say bye bye plane as they are pulling out of the gate in not uncommon. The other planes in the gates weren't moving and they were being left behind. My son says bye bye dog it doesn't mean that he is going to blow up the dog.

As for the not having diapers and food I think what she was trying to say was that she didn't have enough spares to be delayed like that. When I travel I take what I think I need on the plane plus maybe an extra 3 diapers, but if the next plane didn't leave for a day I would not have had enough either. Also with the food in jars you can only fit so many containers in a Ziploc baggie before you reach your max.

I am behind this mother she should sue, as I believe the flight attendant and the airline were over zealous by the supposed threat of bye bye plane.

Answer 4

What the child was saying would not be a problem but screaming is. All passengers on board the aircraft should be allowed to travel in as much comfort AND safety as is possible.
Yes, parents are the sole person responsible for controlling they're children. Flight attendants are not babysitters, nor are other passengers.
Children will be children but the parents must make sure that they have what is necessary to keep them comfortable, feed and entertained during the flight.

Answer 5

My,my my. This story is right up my alley.This happened to me a while back on a flight to Trinidad from JFK airport. A little boy about Five or Six years old, he kept kicking the back of my seat, I tolerated it for a while and all along the mother was sitting right there and didn't make the slightest attempt to stop him until I had enough of the crap; I had to turn around and ask her with all the patience I could muster up to restrain her child then she got an attitude.A big emphatic YES.Control,your child/children on the plane ,in the stores,in the home.

Answer 6

I think we as parents have the obligation to control children in public. Specially in these cases where being on a plane can be very stressful. I went for a long trip when my daughter was 18 months old, she doesn't speak too much but she was very uncomfortable, and I couldn't blame her. As much as I had a migraine and I was very tired, I had to keep her calm, even if she wanted to stroll around the plane, I did it with her.
The airline lady took it a bit too far, the woman should have been able to tell the child to shush, with a bottle, pacifier, DVD player or what nots... Anything can distract those little minds. Besides, they do not know what they are saying, and most people understand that. If i got kicked off the plane I would make sure she gets fired and the airline would have had to reimburse me.

Answer 7

I have to agree with Liz. For Pete's sake, the little guy was just over a year old. One year olds cannot comprehend the fear people have of flying since 9/11, and how hyper-sensitive they might be from hearing someone say "bye-bye plane". Holy-moly, bye-bye is one of the first phrases children usually learn and they say it to everything that is going away...from daddy leaving for work in the morning, to a fly buzzing by. It's just normal for someone this young to say bye-bye. I should know, I'm the mother of four and have heard my share of bye-byes in the last 17 years. And, no, you cannot control what comes out of a child's mouth at this age. They will say things repeatedly and don't have enough reasoning ability to stop even when told to do so.

Answer 8

To an extent. After watching this, the flight attendant was way off. There have been deaths attributed to giving benadryl to a child that young. The effects of antihistamines are not predictable for children under 2 (weight would be contrbuted in also)
Second of all, a child that young, is just learning to speak, and its ridiculous to think would have the intelligence to make threats.

You can bring games, candy, bottles, and still have unpredictable behavior from a young child on a plane, no matter how prepared you are. You can have unpredictable behavior from a young child anywhere. If the airline cant handle this, have adults only flights and expect you - the consumer - to pay more for them. Would you?

My thought is, I would not fly this airline with or without children.

Answer 9

i don't know what airport you are you have been in but i have never seen diapers or baby food. Also how bad is bye bye plane. Is that really worth being kicked off or considered out of control. Yes parents should not allow kids to run up and down the isle but kids will scream and there really is nothing you can do about it. What so people with kids are not supposed to travel till the kid is like 7 and does not get fussy any more.

Answer 10

Saying bye bye plane is not a disruption. Screaming and yelling is. An infant is too young to properly "control". They cry because they are hungry, hurt, wet, ect. And this sometimes cannot be helped. Her son was old enough to know how to behave and should have done so. If he was hungry, and she didn't bring a bottle, that is COMPLETELY her fault.

The others stood up for her, so I think the child was not that much of a disruption. ANd I do not believe he was "screaming" as you say in your question.

Answer 11

We, as parents, are always responsible for controlling our children. Now, a 19 month old yelling "bye bye plane" causing someone to get kicked off...a little much.

Babies and toddlers are completely different than other children and can be much harder to control...especially in a closed in area where they are expected to sit still. Even if she had stuck a sippy cup in the child's hands it still may not have stopped the disturbance.